How Does Cinema War Propaganda Really Work?

In our latest article, Matt and I reflect on two of the most common claims made about National Security Cinema, namely 1) That the government is really important in making movies more militaristic and 2) That Hollywood doesn’t produce dissenting films. While the first of these is somewhat true it is a simplification, the second is an outright falsehood. In this article we look at how dissenting or radical content can make its way into state-sponsored entertainment, while many examples of National Security Cinema are produced without any input from the entertainment liaison offices. We also examine the industrial factors that ensure that more radical films get smaller audiences and make less money.